Listening
Aids May Help Boost Dyslexic Kids'
Reading Skills
According to a new
research, devices that amplify the sound of a teacher's voice may
help children with dyslexia improve their reading skills. After a year of wearing
the devices in the classroom, children with dyslexia had improved
scores on tests of phonological awareness and reading.
Neuroscientist saw
improvements in reading, and when they measured the brain's response
to speech sounds, not only did the kids who wore the device become
more consistent to the very soft and rapidly changing elements of
sound which helped in distinguishing one consonant from another, but
their brains also responded more consistently to sounds.
"For some kids,
sound-to-meaning connections need to be made enabling them to read
but if the child is hearing the teacher's voice right in his ear
[through an assistive listening device], it makes him pay attention.
It enables the child to know what to pay attention to."
In this study,nineteen
students wore an assistive listening device throughout each school
day for the entire school year. The other 19 children were the
control group. The device is simple. The
teacher wears a microphone, and each child wears an earpiece, similar
to a Bluetooth receiver, that puts the sound of the teacher's voice
directly in the child's ear.
"The idea was that,
if the teacher's voice was directly reached into your ear, you will
focus more on that and there will be less chances of distraction.
Before
and after a year of use of the device, the brains of kids who wore
the device responded more consistently to the very soft and rapidly
changing elements of sound that help distinguish one consonant from
another, such as cat, bat and pat. It helped in improving reading
skills.
So they are speaking
right into the child's ear and helping their nervous system to
stabilize and building literacy as well as literacy skills
awwsum.
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